Staging a Civil War Battle Coastside

Jeanne Cooper, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Friday, August 8, 1997

The Peninsula Round Table may treat Civil War combat as a monthly mental exercise, but this weekend military buffs can also get physical with their hobby. About 1,200 enthusiasts will reenact three Civil War battles for spectators in Half Moon Bay.

"You have drill, more drill, and lunch, interrupted by sheer terror of enemy assaults," says Gary Petrini, a purchasing agent in Newark when he's not wearing Union blue. He's a member of the California 100th, which re-creates the experiences of the men who volunteered in San Francisco in the fall of 1862, were transported back East and fought with a Massachusetts regiment.

"We did well," Petrini says of his company's role models. "We did have to execute a member for desertion, but a couple won the Congressional Medal of Honor. We were present at surrender at Appomattox."

In Half Moon Bay, at least 10 companies representing each side will set up camp on the 20-acre grounds of the Johnston House, one of the few saltboxes on the West Coast. The reenactment is a benefit for restoring the 1853 structure, says Jack McHugh, a director of the Johnston House Foundation.

The house was badly damaged in a storm in the '70s, according to McHugh. The annual Civil War reenactments, begun two years ago, have turned out to be a popular fund-raiser.

" "They do the battles as authentic as they can. Before and after the battle, you can walk through and view their encampment. After the battle, you can go to the medical tent and see what they did to the wounded," McHugh said.

Less gruesome scenes occur at the civilian encampment, where women tend to the soldiers' clothes and children play period games, and at the peddlers' market, where reproduction clothing, books on the Civil War, souvenirs and food are sold.

The soldiers are supposed to eat "salt pork, hard tack and, if we're really lucky, jerked meat of undetermined origin," Petrini says. The reenactors can visit the concession if they didn't bring enough of their own food, he adds. And if visitors would like to borrow a tin plate from soldiers, "that would be OK by us."

The Johnston House is off Route 1 just south of Half Moon Bay. The grounds open at 9:30 a.m., with reenacted battles at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. tomorrow and 11 a.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 adults, $5 ages 5 to 17; younger free. Pancake breakfast for sale 8 to 10 a.m. Sunday. (650) 726-8380.